Maqbool Butt anniversary demo and march in London
London, Feb 11, 2001
Hundreds of JKLF members commemorated Maqbool Butt day (17 anniversary) by taking out a procession in the streets of London on Sunday, 11th February. They marched from the Lincons Inn Fields to India House in Aldwych where a memorandum addressed to the prime minister of India was presented by a delegation lead by JKLF UK president Shabir Choudhry, and gen sec Azmat Khan to the Indian High Commissioner. Carrying banners and playcards with Maqabool Butt pictures they distributed handbills to onlookers and London tourists.
They arrived from London, Watford, Luton, Birmingham, Bradford and Accrington in coach loads to pay respects to their beloved leader and to protest against his illegal execution by Indra Ghandhi government. The demonstration was part of Kashmiri resolve on the two sides of the so-called line of control of their determination to carry through Maqbool Butt's mission for justice and self-determination for his nation. They demanded the unconditional release of all political prisoners languishing in Indian jails without trial, including Rauf Khan and Noor Mohammed Kaluwal. They also called for the removal of Shaheed Maqbool Butt's dead body to Srinagar for proper and honorable burial.
Maqboo Butt was hanged in India on this day. The day was marked by protest and strikes though out Kashmir. JKLF members in Srinagar were arrested for taking out a procession. Rallies and demonstrations were taken out in many Azad Kashmiri cities by pro-independence organisations but pro-Pakistan militant groups also paid rich tribute to Kashmir' most popular martyr, who is seen as the pioneer of the armed resistance movement in Kashmir.
On this occasion of the 17th anniversary of the illegal execution of Kashmir's most popular pro-independence leader Maqbool Butt, a large population of Kashmiris based in the UK particularly members of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) wish to remind your government that we have not forgotten his mission for re-unification and independence of our motherland. We wish to remind your government that no power in the world has ever been able to silence the demands for freedom by violent suppression or by judicial or extra-judicial killings. Kashmiris have proved to the world over the last 10 years that they are not going to give up their struggle for independence until they succeed.
Prime Minister, the international community and the human rights organizations the world over have witnessed the successive Indian governments renege the commitment to Kashmiris for their right to self-determination. It is no secret that over 600,000 armed forces have used every form of violence and oppression to quell our independence movement. The world is also a witness that India has not succeeded despite over 70,000 killings of our people including Kashmir's best known men, women and children.
We think its time that your government took a realistic approach and re-assess its options. If you really believe that military force, nuclear weapons and political intrigue is going to succeed in keeping the Kashmiris enslaved forever you are seriously mistaken. Instead, political dialogue and tri-partite talks can help resolve the issue peacefully.
Further, we demand that all Kashmiri political prisoners languishing in Indian jails without trial, including Rauf Khan (Kashmiri) and Noor Mohammed Kaluwal, both of whom were ordered for released by your own courts last year should be set free immediately. Allow Shaheed Maqbool Butt's dead body to be removed to Srinagar so that he can be buried in his homeland with proper honor and dignity.
For Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front , UK _Europe